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this House and I know, the law does not allow pharmacists to prescribe although they are qualified to do so. Advanced nurse practitioners have qualifications that enable them to do A to Z but the State only allows them to do A to D. There are special needs … words, there is no pathway for them to move on. I was in a Montessori special school recently. I raised this at a parliamentary party meeting last week. The teacher who is regarded as the best in the school was educated in a different jurisdiction and so their

abolition of the carer’s allowance. This has been the demand of Family Carers Ireland for years and was promised by all political parties in the run-up to the last general election. It was understood that the means test would be abolished within the first 100 days … State approximately €20 billion. The abolition of the carer's allowance means test is the least the Government should do in return. The cost is modest in the overall budget of the State. In 2024, the Parliamentary Budget Office estimated the full cost at €375.3 million, which

When I stand up to speak on agricultural issues, it causes great mirth among my colleagues in the parliamentary party but it is an important issue for all of us. The sooner we realise that agriculture affects everybody in this country, not just those in rural communities … extension, something we have been part of for generations now, is a hugely important part of the infrastructure that supports agriculture. It allows agriculture to exist beyond a subsistence level and to be a functional part of our economy. It supports functioning farms that are profit-making

appeal. I submitted parliamentary questions to try to get to the bottom of this and see what information I could get back. I was informed that 33% of all first-time applications for the domiciliary care allowance were refused. Of this, 50% of the applicants appealed … honest with the Minister of State. I will recommend to any parent out there who has been turned down for the domiciliary care allowance to appeal because based on these figures, it is likely they will win. As one parent said to me, "You would think the Government

thank the Deputy for raising the matter and for constructively discussing it with me at the last parliamentary questions session on defence matters. I have had engagement with my officials to try to tease through some of this since we last discussed this … State. It is also important to me that, where possible, litigation of this nature can be concluded on reasonable terms agreeable to all parties to spare people having to take other routes. In the event that this cannot be achieved, the matter will fall to be determined

those people at the centre of it, is appropriate and whether we move forward with that model. A quasi-judicial or legal approach allows us to produce a report that is publishable and defendable from a legal perspective but from a social care perspective, what many people want … Perhaps that is because it is an incredibly complex case. I have listened to Deputy McGuinness speak on this matter at Fianna Fáil parliamentary party meetings over the years I have been a member. He has spoken very passionately about this case and whatever I know about

unveiled aggressive tariffs on its trading partners across the world, including here in the European Union. Those tariffs were latterly partially suspended to allow space for negotiations. We all know that it is through negotiations and cool heads that this issue will be resolved. This major change … working people are on their own. If that was not enough for working people to worry about, they heard from the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party that the prospect of countertariffs from the EU means that the Government may need to take difficult decisions. The Tánaiste talks about difficult

impact it had on his family. We need more whistleblowers, not fewer. That is why the Labour Party introduced legislation to protect them. If the perception is allowed to remain that the State will try to crush you for speaking up, then we need to seriously review … reform them to ensure a quicker path to justice for relatives and survivors. We must develop legislation to allow for the appointment of a parliamentary inspector, as used in Australia, as an alternative to tribunals and commissions of inquiry for issues such as those the Commission of Investigation

Israel’s international obligations. Ireland and the EU must be unequivocal in our calls on Israel to immediately lift the blockade and allow for unimpeded access of humanitarian aid. The European Union can and should continue to do more to use the levers at its disposal to exert … that we face, from conventional warfare to cyberattacks, energy coercion, and disinformation campaigns. Ireland, while a militarily neutral state, is not a neutral party when it comes to violations of international law, human rights, or the sovereignty of our neighbours. We are, and remain, an active contributor